The internet is open

Despite hysteria from social media, late night comedy shows or even presidential administrations, net neutrality is not a policy that needs to be controversial. net neutrality is the idea that internet service providers should treat all data on their networks fairly, without favoring or disfavoring certain types of internet traffic. This means that service providers shouldn’t block lawful content, slow down access to content or unjustly prioritize traffic to certain sites.

The basic principles of net neutrality have broad support. But the Biden administration’s Federal Communications Commission wants to leapfrog Congress and impose its own version of net neutrality - a version that drastically expands government control over the internet.

The FCC voted this month to reinstate outdated net neutrality regulations that treat internet service providers the same way as utility companies. The agency’s end goal isn’t net neutrality — it’s to regulate the rates that internet service providers can charge consumers. In practice, these regulations would have an immediate chilling effect on the significant private sector investments that have made U.S. broadband networks resilient.

The FCC has tried this before. It wants to reinstate almost the exact same rules it issued during the Obama administration in 2015. When those heavy-handed rules were repealed during the Trump administration, Democrats claimed the internet as we knew it was over - but as we can see today, repealing burdensome regulations didn’t break the internet in 2017.

In fact, the internet flourished. Average fixed download speeds have increased by 260% since 2017. Average mobile download speeds have increased by more than 456%.

Furthermore, during the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, we saw stress tests of internet networks around the world when so many people transitioned to work and school from home. In the European Union – where strict utility regulations of internet services exist – we saw EU officials requesting that large online platforms ration their services because network infrastructure was unable to handle the major shift in traffic. Because of our lighter regulatory environment, U.S. network speeds surpassed the EU’s by 83% and service continued robustly.

We can all agree that internet access is critical for all Americans. But to support net neutrality, we do not have to regulate the internet like a utility. The FCC should not empower itself to add new taxes and fees to Americans’ monthly internet bills, which this kind of regulation would allow.

Instead of relying on costly, top-down mandates from the administration, we should preserve the existing, long-standing regulatory framework so that people across our country can continue to enjoy open, unhindered access to innovative and robust internet services.

Without question, it is important to maintain fair access for internet traffic. But make no mistake: we already have an open internet.

Thank you for participating in the democratic process. I look forward to visiting with you again next week.